Scum

If you have ever cleaned a bird bath or shallow pond which had been
neglected for awhile, you will recognize this scenario.

Our bird bath on the side of our house does not need filling with the
hose, because the automatic sprinklers do this on a regular basis.
Today, however, I was in that area and decided to check it out. The
appearance and odor of the water in the bird bath was disgusting.There
was a green scum across the top of the stagnant water, and the smell was
vulgar. I tipped the old water out and then wiped the basin with some
paper towels. The residue which had accumulated in the base of the bath
was worse than I had anticipated. I had to make several trips to the
kitchen for paper towels to clean up the mess, and that still didn't
complete the job. The scum had adhered to the bird bath and was very
nasty. I didn't much like the clean up job. I had to take a metal
bristle brush to scrub the disgusting residue, then rinse and scrub some
more. When the clean up job was finished, I added fresh water and was
very pleased with the results- sparkling clean and ready to be a haven
of cool refr  eshment for my feathered friends.

I will watch more carefully in the future, making sure my bird bath
water is what it should be- clean, refreshing and inviting.

The sin scum in my life made me just as unappealing and ugly as that
stagnant water. When I accepted Jesus as my savior, all that was washed
away. God tipped me over, poured all the ugly stuff out and filled me
with the Holy Spirit. He did not have to scrub and scrub me as I had
done the birdbath, for the shed blood of His Son washed away all my sin
in one fell swoop. Sinful ways sneak back into my life, and God gets my
attention and cleans me up on a regular basis, but Jesus effectively
accomplished that first major overhauling.

It is a desire of my heart for my life to be like a clean birdbath-
pure, refreshing, inviting and ready to serve others.